Monday, May 07, 2007

But, how do you really feel about it?

"For the first time ever, an artist who has been dead for more than a decade - Felix Gonzalez-Torres - will represent the United States, presumably because he was the best the commissioners could come up with. If that isn't a failure of nerve, what is?

One of the most deadening trends in recent years has been the Great Chinese Art Swindle. For years now we've been hearing about the vibrancy of the art coming out of Beijing and Shanghai - and it's all baloney."

They were chosen by a jury comprised of Dr. Brandon Brame Fortune is the Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery, Professor W.C. Richardson, Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Maryland, and Professor Tanja Softic’ who is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Richmond.

The artists participated in a tour, talking about their work, inspirations, and process, answering questions from an audience so large, that many could not fit into the tiny offices that make up the galleries on Level 6, and overflow spilled into the surrounding corridors. They had also invited several jurors to take a part in the walk. After the talk, the invited jurors made their selection of artists to receive a special award.

Local arts patron and collector, and founder and funder of the Trawick Prize and the Bethesda Paintings Awards, Carol Trawick, awarded Deb Conti an "Encouragement Award" for her sculptural jewelry. Carol liked the "incorporation of poetry by Deb's husband, and the creative presentation of the pieces."

Fraser Gallery's Catriona Fraser, also awarded Alison Sigethy an Encouragement Award. "The work is simple and sophisticated. I love the way that Alison has been inspired by her environment to create beautiful, organic sculpture," she said.

Habatat Gallery's Lindsey Scott selected Kirk Waldroff, as she was quite taken with his "sophisticated and professional" presentation of his cast glass prints.

The semi-finalists for the $25,000 Sondheim Prize in Baltimore have been announced and they are:

Seth Adelsberger, Baltimore MD

Chul-Hyun Ahn, Baltimore MD

Lillian Bayley, Baltimore MD

Heather Boaz, Towson MD

Mark Cameron Boyd, Beltsville MD

Edward Brown, Salisbury MD

Lynn Cazabon, Baltimore MD

Richard Cleaver, Baltimore MD

Mary Coble, Washington DC

Kathryn Cornelius, Washington DC

Frank Hallam Day, Washington DC

Eric Dyer, Baltimore MD

Neil Feather, Baltimore MD

Shaun Flynn, Baltimore MD

Steven Frost, Washington DC

Dawn Gavin, Baltimore MD

Geoff Grace, Baltimore MD

Susannah Gust, Baltimore MD

Maren Hassinger, Baltimore MD

Sam Christian Holmes, Baltimore MD

Jason Horowitz, Arlington VA

Courtney Jordan, Baltimore MD

Brian Kain, Emmitsburg MD

Avish Khebrehzadeh, Washington DC

Magnolia Laurie, Baltimore MD

Joey P. Mánlapaz, Washington DC

Gabriel Martinez, Washington DC

Jeanette May, Alexandria VA

Lisa Moren, Baltimore MD

Brandon Morse, Takoma Park MD

Jeremy Rountree, Baltimore MD

Erik Sandberg, Washington DC

Tony Shore, Baltimore MD

Molly Springfield, Washington DC

Deirtra Thompson, Baltimore MD

René Treviño, Baltimore MD

Karen Yasinsky, Baltimore MD

Jason Zimmerman, Washington DC

The winner selected from the six finalists will be announced at a special ceremony and reception held at the BMA on Friday, July 13. Another exhibition of semifinalists will take place at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Decker and Meyerhoff Galleries during Artscape on July 20 and continuing through August 2, 2007.

My old gallery will host the opening for two of the hottest Cuban artists on the planet: Sandra Ramos Lorenzo and Aimee Garcia Marrero, both coming off highly successful museum shows in Latin America and Europe. Details here.

The annual jurying for studio space at Montpelier Arts Center is currently taking place. The Montpelier Arts Center is located on the beautiful grounds of the Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, Maryland.

Current resident artists include painters, printmakers, sculptors, ceramicists, a fiber artist and a jewelry artist. Space is rented to qualified artists at the rate of $8.00/square foot per year ($9.30 for artists residing outside of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties.)

Interested artists are encouraged to visit the Center. Resident artists who have studios at Montpelier are also eligible for solo exhibitions in the Resident Artists Gallery on a rotating basis and have access to their studios seven days a week. The deadline for delivering work to be reviewed is Tuesday, May 15, 2007. Call (301) 953-1993 for a studio application or download a PDF version at this website.

As most of you know, DC's Eastern Market burned down last week. Now, local residents and bar owners are teaming up on Tuesday, May 8th to host happy hour fundraisers across the District to raise money and rebuild Eastern Market.

There are over a dozen bars participating in the fundraiser on Tuesday night so feel free to make a night out of it. And if you are interested in hosting a fundraiser at your favorite neighborhood bar please do. To get more involved please visit this website.